Coasting with Culture through New Zealand and Australia!

Part 17, Kings Park in Perth

11/17/2016 - After an overnight visit to Alice Springs, I hopped on a pair of afternoon flights to get to Perth with a connection through Adelaide for a couple days in Western Australia. Upon my arrival, I was picked up by friends of my younger sister and her boyfriend who they know through his participation in competitive boomerang (yes, it is an actual thing!). I spent the rest of the evening at their house, then the

next morning, Christene and Mama Leony would play tour guide for me with our day starting at Kings Park.

The park itself sits on a hile that is outside of the Central Business District of Perth, and is known for its Botanic Garden. When we arrived, our first stop was to the DNA Tower, which was designed to replicate a stand of DNA and has about 100 steps to reach the top.

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At the top of the tower, there is a plaque with a compass rose on it, along with a directional guide to where points of interest and significant places are in relation to the tower.

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The top of the tower is also the highest point in the park, giving you the ability to get some decent views in several directions.

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After the DNA tower, we headed over towards the main walking trail of the park, and on the way there, we paid a visit to the Anzac Memorial.

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Along with the obelisk that is prominently featured on the top, there is also a covered area beneath it in which there are several plaques with the names of those who served in the military from Western Australia, and died because of World War II.

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While the memorial serves as a somber reminder of the lives lost because of the war, it also provides a wonderful view of Perth along the

banks of the Swan River. You can even see the area know as Elizabeth Quay, which we would visit a little bit later in the day.

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Along the walking trails of the park, there are several garden areas with a wide variety of plant species.

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The park is also home to several speices of birds. The one that I saw most commonly is the Australian Magpie, like the one below and to the right.

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The also has several pieces of art work, such as the two below. The mural style wall sculpture is of Aborigine women with their children, and the statue is of a pioneer woman with her child.

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Along the trails, there are several signs that share the history and culture of the area, and also features several unique stairways to help navigate the hills.

The main trail also features a nice viewing platform for the Swan River and the Central Business District of Perth. This particular platform also features plaques that would tell you what some of the different buildings and places that you can see are.

One of the park's highlights is the Glass Bridge. While I was under the impression that it was going to be like one of those walkways that has you walking on glass panels and you can see down below, the glass is more to do with the sides of the bridge, which gives it a unique design.

The placement on the hill really adds to its look, and gives it a feeling of being quite high off of the ground when looking towards the rivier

down the hill.

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That completes our walk around Kings Park. Up next, we will head to the city of Fremantle, exploring the town and visit one of the oldest standing prisons of Australia.